The present invention generally relates to apparatus for supporting patients during medical procedures and, more specifically, to surgical tables having improved patient access and a stable floor locking mechanism.
Conventional surgical and medical tables are designed to provide a support platform for holding patients in an appropriate position during surgery or a procedure. Floor space in hospital and out-patient operating rooms is at a premium. Therefore, the design of the surgical table must afford surgical team members ready access to various body parts of the patient from various locations along the table before, during or after the surgical or medical procedure and yet minimize the amount of floorspace occupied.
During the surgical or medical procedure, the patient must be maintained stationary. To that end, the surgical table is anchored to the floor in a fixed position within the operating room or procedure room. However, the surgical table must be movable so that it can be repositioned within the operating room or removed from the operating room when unused. The surgical table is repositioned to clean the floor space about the table following the medical procedure. The surgical table may require repositioning to introduce a different surgical table, which is tailored for a specialized procedure, into the operating room.
Conventional medical or surgical tables are mobilized by providing them with multiple pivoting or swivel casters. In one common design for anchoring the position of the surgical table, a plurality of retractable, vertically-movable floor locks are extended to contact the floor. The casters may remain in floor contact or the floor locks may raise the table so that the casters no longer contact the floor. In an elevated position, the table is supported on the legs rather than on the casters. However, such conventional mechanisms are mechanically complex because a set of vertically movable legs must be incorporated into the table design.
The patient support surfaces of conventional surgical tables may only be lowered to within about thirty-one inches of the floor. Because the patient not conveniently located, surgical team members must stand during surgical procedures, which increases fatigue. For certain types of surgeries, it would be advantageous for surgical team members to operate in a seated position.
Surgical team members must work in a close proximity to the patient. If the support surface is significantly wider that the width of the patient""s body, then the surgical team members cannot stand near to the patient""s body. Users of conventional surgical tables, however, commonly utilize portions of the support surface adjacent to the patient""s shoulders as a repository for objects such as instruments, syringes and the like. Therefore, the support surface near the patient""s shoulders will be wide enough to accommodate this common usage. As a result, the surgical team members must lean against the support surface and/or extend their arms outwardly so that all portions of the patient""s body are within arm""s length. In extreme instances, all portions of the patient""s upper torso may not be accessible from a single side of the surgical table.
What is needed, therefore, is a surgical table that optimizes the usage of the space on the patient support surface and the surrounding floorspace and that is mobile and yet can be secured against movement when performing surgery.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a surgical table is provided that permits compact lateral tilting of a patient support surface for reducing the height of the patient support surface relative to the floor surface when the surgical table is in a fully lowered condition. In accordance with the principles of the invention, the surgical table includes a patient support surface having a longitudinal axis, a frame attached to the patient support surface, and a base having a support column and a support platform attached to the support column. The surgical table further includes a pair of four-bar linkage mechanisms that allow the frame and the patient support surface to tilt transversely generally about the longitudinal axis and relative to the support platform. Each of the four-bar linkage mechanisms includes a pair of link arms each having one end pivotally attached to the support platform and an opposite end pivotally attached to the frame.
In another embodiment, the surgical table can incorporate an ancillary support surface for small instruments and the like, which permits a reduction in width of the back section of the patient support surface. In accordance with the principles of the invention, the surgical table includes a base and a patient support surface mounted to the base. The patient support surface has a head section for supporting a patient""s head and a longitudinal axis. The surgical table further includes a tray pivotally coupled to the head section of said patient support surface and angularly rotatable about an axis of rotation generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the patient support surface. The tray has a first condition in which angular rotation of the tray about the axis of rotation is inhibited and a second condition in which the tray is rotatable angularly about the axis of rotation. In the first condition, the tray is capable of receiving and supporting a surgical instrument.
In yet another embodiment, the present invention provides a surgical table constructed to provide a mechanically-simple floor-locking mechanism. In accordance with the principles of the invention, the surgical table includes a patient support surface, a base having a base frame, a support column extending between the base frame and the support surface, and a carriage coupled for relative movement with the base frame. The carriage includes a plurality of spaced-apart rolling members so that the surgical table is selectively mobile and a pair of yokes each pivotally coupled to the base frame, each of the yokes carrying at least one of the rolling members. To that end, the surgical table further includes a lifting mechanism operative for transferring a lifting force to the linkages sufficient to move the yokes relative to the base frame. The lifting mechanism is capable of moving capable of moving the yokes relative to the base frame between a first position in which the carriage is movable on the rolling members and a second position in which the carriage is not movable on the rolling members.
Various additional advantages and features of the invention will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.